Recent Updates
- US: Wholesale Trade (Feb), Producer Prices (Mar)
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- more updates...
Economy in Brief
U.S. Wholesale Inventories Post Strong February Gain; Sales Fall
Wholesale inventories increased 0.6% (2.0% y/y) during February...
U.S. Initial Unemployment Insurance Claims Unexpectedly Increase
Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose to 744,000 during the week ended April 3...
Total PMIs Gain Traction in March
The PMI readings for March show improvement again...
U.S. Consumer Credit Outstanding Bounces Back in February
Consumer credit outstanding surged $27.6 billion during February...
U.S. Trade Deficit Widens to Record during February
The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services widened to $71.1 during February...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller June 05, 2018
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the total job openings rate during April was unchanged at 4.3%, but was higher than the 4.0% rate twelve months earlier. (The job openings rate is the job openings level as a percent of total employment plus the job openings level.) The hiring rate rose to 3.8% and equaled the highest level since October 2007.
The private-sector job openings rate held steady at the expansion high of 4.6%, and March was revised up from 4.5%. The rate rose in professional & business services (5.7%), leisure & hospitality (5.5%) and education & health services (5.1%). The job openings rate in trade, transportation and utilities held steady at 4.3%, and in the manufacturing sector the job openings rate improved to 3.4%. In construction, the rate eased to 3.1%. The job openings rate in the government sector slipped to 2.5%.
The level of job openings increased 1.0% (9.7% y/y) after surging 9.1% in March. Private-sector openings improved 1.5% (9.9% y/y) to 6.117 million. Job opening increased 21.0% y/y in trade, transportation & utilities. Professional & business services job openings gained 22.9% y/y while leisure & hospitality openings rose 11.0% y/y. Openings in education & health services increased 9.1% y/y and factory sector openings increased 20.9% y/y. To the downside, openings in construction eased 0.4% y/y. Openings in government improved 6.8% y/y.
The private-sector hiring rate held steady at 4.1%, where it's been for five of the last six months. The rate in leisure & hospitality (6.4%), professional and business services (5.7%) and trade, transportation & utilities (4.0%) remained firm. In construction, the rate rose to 4.9% and in education & health services, it improved to 2.9%. In the factory sector, the rate eased to 2.7%. The government sector hiring rate held steady at 1.5%, about where it's been since late 2016.
Total hiring increased 6.8% y/y. Hiring in the private sector also increased 6.8% y/y led by a 14.4% y/y gain in professional & business services jobs. Factory sector hiring rose 11.3% y/y, but construction sector employment declined 7.2% y/y. Leisure & hospitality hiring improved 4.2% y/y, while the number of education & health services workers improved 2.4% y/y. Hiring in the public sector increased 6.6% y/y.
The overall job separations rate was stable m/m to 3.6%, about where it's been since 2015. It held at 4.0% in the private sector and ticked up to 1.6% in government. The level of overall separations rose 5.8% y/y.
The level of layoffs increased 1.4% y/y, leaving the 1.2% layoff rate up from March's record low of 1.0%. In the private sector, the layoff rate rose to 1.3% and gained to 0.5% in the public sector.
The Job Openings & Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) survey dates to December 2000 and the figures are available in Haver's USECON database.
JOLTS (Job Openings & Labor Turnover Survey, SA) | Apr | Mar | Feb | Apr'17 | Apr '16 | Apr'15 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Job Openings, Total | ||||||
Rate (%) | 4.3 | 4.3 | 3.9 | 4.0 | 3.9 | 3.8 |
Total (000s) | 6,698 | 6,633 | 6,078 | 6,108 | 5,893 | 5,625 |
Hires, Total | ||||||
Rate (%) | 3.8 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.6 | 3.6 | 3.6 |
Total (000s) | 5,578 | 5,486 | 5,511 | 5,225 | 5,243 | 5,120 |
Layoffs & Discharges, Total | ||||||
Rate (%) | 1.2 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.3 |
Total (000s) | 1,710 | 1,547 | 1,620 | 1,687 | 1,736 | 1,793 |